Subject to Finance Clause Deadlines for Brokers

A subject to finance clause ties the buyer’s contract response to a stated finance condition and deadline. For a broker, the task is to obtain the lender decision needed for that transaction and report any remaining conditions before the confirmed date.

Start with the signed contract and the buyer’s legal adviser’s deadline confirmation. Then work backwards through the lender’s outstanding evidence, valuation and assessment. An existing pre-approval doesn’t establish that the lender has approved this property and loan amount.

Define the Broker’s Finance Deadline

1. Obtain the complete signed contract and ask the buyer’s conveyancer or solicitor to confirm the finance deadline and required outcome. Include any amendments and special conditions. Record the date, cut-off time and the legal adviser’s instructions about when they need your update.

Subject to finance means the purchase has a finance condition that must be addressed under the contract. Your lending work supplies the facts about the application and lender decision. The buyer’s legal adviser explains what those facts mean for the contract.

Ask the legal adviser to confirm the notice process, who must receive a notice and any requirements tied to the contract’s jurisdiction. Their response must identify what lender evidence they need from you. Keep that confirmation beside the contract in your file.

A subject to finance offer in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria or Western Australia must be managed against its own contract. Western Australian Consumer Protection’s offer-and-acceptance guide warns that finance-condition wording can affect the buyer’s obligations. Copying a subject to finance clause example into another transaction can change the protection the buyer expects.

If the buyer is still making an offer, have their legal adviser settle the finance condition before they sign. For an auction purchase, establish the actual contract position with that adviser before relying on this workflow. A broker’s pre-approval update doesn’t add a finance condition to a contract.

A Fictional Deadline Escalation

Assume the buyer’s solicitor confirms a finance deadline of 4 pm on Friday. On Wednesday morning, the lender says the valuation report is still outstanding. The broker records the valuation’s status and asks the lender when assessment can resume after the report arrives.

The broker sends the buyer and solicitor that factual update on Wednesday. The solicitor then advises the buyer about the contractual response, including whether to seek an extension. The broker continues pursuing the valuation without promising that the deadline has changed.

This is a hypothetical sequence with illustrative deadline and escalation dates.

Test Pre-Approval Against the Clause

2. Read the existing pre-approval and compare its conditions with the accepted purchase. Identify what the lender has assessed and what remains open for the specific property and loan amount.

An indicative borrowing figure starts from supplied information. A conditional pre-approval can include assessed borrower information while leaving property checks or other evidence outstanding. Use the decision letter and lender confirmation to identify the assessment completed, because labels alone don’t describe it.

Bankwest’s home loan approval guide, updated 26 June 2026, says an accepted offer requires the signed contract for the application. Bankwest then assesses the application in detail and arranges a valuation before unconditional approval. That sequence explains why its earlier conditional approval doesn’t complete the property-specific assessment.

Use a gap list to compare the current result with the submitted transaction.

Item	What to establish	What can hold up the decision
Valuation	Lender has received and accepted the valuation	Access delay, missing report or value requiring further assessment
Security	Lender accepts the actual property and title	Property details differ from the original enquiry or need specialist review
Income	Assessed income still matches current evidence	New employment details, outdated evidence or an unanswered income query
Deposit	Evidence supports the contribution in the application	Missing statements, unconfirmed gifted funds or an unexplained transfer
Loan amount	Requested amount matches the purchase and contribution	Application carries the old price or a different loan amount
Other conditions	Each decision-letter condition has a recorded status	Evidence sent but not accepted, or a new lender request

A useful lender update states the precise gap. For example, “Income evidence accepted, valuation outstanding” gives the solicitor more information than “Finance nearly approved”. Keep the lender’s exact description of the approval stage in the update.

For the broader assessment levels and application process, use the home loan pre-approval guide. Here, the question is whether the existing result supports the accepted transaction by its deadline.

Build Backwards From the Time Frame

3. Set an internal decision target earlier than the confirmed finance deadline, then schedule the dependencies needed to reach it. Leave time for the legal adviser to review the lender’s decision and act under the contract.

The subject to finance time frame comes from the contract and any confirmed amendment. A 14-day period is an example, not a universal rule or a lender’s promised turnaround. Count the period using the legal adviser’s confirmed dates instead of assuming calendar days, business days or a particular starting event.

Map each open item to a person and a due date. Ask the lender for its current next action on this file and the expected assessment timing. Treat that estimate as a planning input, and revise your escalation point when it leaves too little time.

The following hypothetical schedule assumes a confirmed 14-day period. “Day 1” means the first day in the period the solicitor has already calculated. These are internal targets, not lender service guarantees.

Internal target	Action	Checkpoint before continuing
Day 1	Obtain contract confirmation and compare the pre-approval	Deadline and required lender outcome recorded
Days 1 to 2	Lodge the property-specific application and missing evidence	Lender acknowledges receipt and identifies gaps
By day 4	Confirm valuation booking or report progress	Access arranged and expected report date known
By day 7	Follow up valuation and assessment dependencies	Lender identifies what remains before its decision
By day 10	Escalate anything threatening the decision target	Buyer and legal adviser receive the current facts
By day 12	Seek the written decision and reconcile conditions	Decision checked and sent for legal review
Before the confirmed day 14 cut-off	Confirm the legal adviser has the final status	Required contract response handled through the legal adviser

Escalate earlier if a dependency misses its target. A valuation without an access appointment on day 4 needs action then. Waiting until day 10 only because the schedule names it wastes the time available.

When missing evidence concerns lender policy, identify the exact requirement before asking the client for another document. Bulma’s Policy Advisor quotes lender policy wording, which you can retain with the file notes. The lender still confirms whether the evidence clears the application condition.

Confirm the Lender Decision

4. Check the written lender decision against the submitted transaction before describing its status to the buyer or legal adviser. Obtain clarification from the lender when the decision or its remaining conditions are unclear.

Check the borrower names and security address. Compare the approved amount with the requested loan, and check the expiry date against the transaction. Read every condition, including any requirement for further evidence or assessment.

Record which conditions the lender confirms are cleared and which remain open. Sending a document proves submission. The lender’s acceptance establishes whether that document satisfies its requirement.

Correct use: report the lender’s written decision, amount and outstanding conditions, then send the decision to the legal adviser. Incorrect use: tell the buyer the finance clause is satisfied because the application is lodged or the valuation appointment is booked.

If the approved amount differs from the request, report that difference before anyone acts on the earlier figure. If the letter still requires an assessment condition, name it explicitly. Let the legal adviser determine whether the lender’s actual decision meets the contract’s required outcome.

After the finance decision and contract response are confirmed, the home loan settlement guide covers the later document, funds and booking checks.

Escalate Before the Deadline

5. Send the buyer and their conveyancer or solicitor a factual status summary as soon as the lender decision is at risk of missing the internal target. Include the deadline they confirmed and the time of your latest lender contact.

Use the summary to make the next action clear. Supply the following file details.

• Application reference and lodgement date.
• Evidence submitted, with dates and any item the lender hasn’t accepted.
• Valuation status, including the expected report date if the lender gives one.
• Current approval stage and every outstanding condition.
• Lender’s expected next action and any decision estimate it has supplied.
• Your next follow-up time and the person responsible for each missing item.

For the fictional valuation delay above, the update could read as follows.

The application and requested income documents are lodged. The lender confirms the valuation report remains outstanding as at Wednesday, 10 am. Assessment will resume after the report arrives, and the lender hasn’t given a final decision date. I’ll follow up again at 2 pm today. The solicitor has confirmed the finance deadline as Friday, 4 pm.

Ask the legal adviser to advise the buyer about any extension request or termination notice. Deposit consequences, including whether a deposit is refundable, depend on the contract and belong with that adviser. A lender delay alone doesn’t establish the buyer’s entitlement to a refund.

Keep pursuing the lender decision while the legal adviser handles the contractual response. Record any agreed deadline change only after the legal adviser confirms it. Broader post-contract concerns belong in the first home buyer remorse guide.

Before closing the deadline task, confirm the checked lender decision is on file and the buyer’s legal adviser has received it. Record their confirmation of the contract response, or the next confirmed deadline if the matter continues. An unanswered escalation stays open with a named person and follow-up time.